Analytical Report
Assignment Description For this assignment we were asked to create an analytical report delving into Google Docs and its uses in the professional industry. Assignment Submission Google Docs By: Joshua Fritzler, Nicolas A. Svob, Avery R. Jensen, Nathan Woldstad Class: Technical Writing Date: June 3, 2014 Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 3 History 4 Research 4 Conclusion 8 Reference 9 Executive Summary Purpose: The purpose of this document is to explore the viability of Google Docs as a tool for professionals. Summary: Google documents was created for users to collaborate and design documents from anywhere at any time. By using the power of the internet and its cloud based storage system, the documents can be accessed from any computer or internet accessing device. Google Docs was started as a way for individuals and businesses to take their work on the go, and has since grown from a very rudimentary program to a wide ranging and fully functioning office on the go. Google documents has built up to over 120 million individual users and 5 million businesses subscribed to their $5 a month program. Although for personal use Google Docs is free to use, businesses can subscribe to them for $5 a month for unlimited access for any amount of users. Many professionals are speculating that Google Docs will overtake the widely used Microsoft Office programs in the near future due to its ease of access and affordable costs to use. Conclusion: It is the decision of the members of this group that Google Docs is a very important tool that is useful for professionals in all fields of work. Introduction Cloud services, like Google Docs, have become prevalent in society in the past decade due to the need for fast and efficient collaboration over distances. A person can easily use Google Docs to create presentations, a rough sketch for a fix to a problem, or even a spreadsheet outlining data collected during an experiment. The use of Google Docs for projects such as these allows the creator or end user to edit and view the data at any time access to an internet connection is available. As a cloud service, Google Docs’ user interface is entirely web-based. It can be accessed from any internet browser on any computer. This means that it can be accessed from a computer with any operating system, including Windows, the various Mac operating systems, and Linux and its Android-based cousins. The fact that it is accessed through an internet browser means that there is also no bulky install on the computer’s hard drive. Cloud services take the responsibility of storing files out of the user’s hands. The services utilize servers contained in their place of business to store the information until it is needed. These services offer the flexibility of not being tied to using one computer. A user can save a file from one computer to the cloud then turn around and access the same file from any computer anywhere in the world. A great example of this would be someone saving a file they were working on at work then accessing it at home to complete the project. They also safeguard any work from a catastrophic failure. If a computer is somehow irreparably damaged the file that was saved to the cloud is still in place on the services servers safe and sound. Google Docs is one of these cloud services and is an excellent tool to use. History Google Docs was introduced to internet users all over the world in October 2006 titled Docs & Spreadsheets. Spreadsheets was an original Google creation while Docs was a new version of a product called Writely that Google had acquired (Our history in-depth). As the name suggests google docs was just a word processor and a spreadsheet creator. Over time Google started adding more features and Docs morphed into what it is today. Research Google Docs has features that have been present in other office suite software in the past and two significant differences that set it apart. Like any other office suite, Google Docs offers a word processor, a presentation program, a spreadsheet program, and a freeform drawing tool. The standout features of Google Docs is that it is a cloud-based service. Because of this it has a unique set of advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage of the web-based architecture of Google Docs is its collaborative editing. While there have been other programs that boast this feature, Google Docs has several advantages over them. Such as giving users the option of seeing a documents revisal history and being able to click back to pre-revision form. Google Docs also gives users access to a large menu of additional add-ons, many of which are free, that allow users to add variety, equations, visuals and more all through the click of a button. Below is a screenshot of some of the free Add-ons that are available. Several web-based word processor programs exist, i.e. Etherpad and Thinkfree. However, they do not have the breadth of features that are available in Google Docs. Some versions of Microsoft Office also support collaborative editing, but only through the use of secondary programs. Google Docs has the advantage of being a single-click solution for all office and collaborative editing needs. Below is an illustration of the benefits Google used to advertise what makes Google Docs unique and desirable above the competition (Overview of Google Docs, 2014). Google Docs also has a better pricing structure than other office suites. The price for using Google Docs for personal use? Free. For the business owners who want to use Google Docs for all their office needs there is a modest $5 monthly charge, which allows an unlimited amount of authorized users. For comparable office suites, like Microsoft, the charge for use is a little different. Whether using the office suite for home or the office you are required to pay for use. A personal user can expect to pay $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month. The small business owner is charged a yearly fee of $150, and Office can only be installed on five computers. If the user of Office does not want to pay the monthly or yearly fee they can purchase a copy for $139.99-$399.99, depending on the features desired, that can be installed on one computer. The disadvantage to purchasing the more expensive copy is the user does not receive updates that Microsoft creates for Offices. This means that the user would be stuck on an inferior version of the product potentially missing out on features that would otherwise make the users experience better. With such a dramatic difference in price people are starting to wonder if Docs will replace Office. Microsoft claims to be installed on 1 billion computers (Covert, 2013). Google Docs is a web-based cloud service, and as such is not actually installed on a computer. However, Google does keep extensive statistics regarding their Google account holders. Out of the accounts that Google users have, 120 million of them are using Google Drive, and 5 million businesses and institutions subscribe to the Google Apps service (Covert, 2013). A disadvantage to Google Docs being web based is that an internet connection is needed to save your documents to the Cloud. Google has gone to great lengths to ensure that this does not affect your ability to create documents at any time. With the download of the Google Drive a user is able to create and edit documents offline using the same software that is available online. The documents that the user has uploaded to Google Docs are downloaded to the computer and are available for editing at any time. When changes or comments are made to the documents Google Drive logs these changes and as soon as an internet connection is established it begins to update the documents online to reflect the changes made offline. With everything being stored on the internet a user must also be concerned about the security of the documents placed within Google Docs. There have been two security breaches within Google Docs since its release in 2006. The first happened in March of 2009 where a bug in the program allowed people to see documents that they weren’t supposed to see. According to Jeff Mazzon, Google Docs Product Manager, the bug only affected .05 percent of the documents stored on Google’s servers. (Google Software Bug, 2009). As always there are people out there trying to steal sensitive personal information from innocent people every day. In June 2011 there was an elaborate phishing scam in which senior government officials were targeted. A link was emailed to the target that led to a fake Google login page. Feeling like they were required to login the targets provided their information. Once the attackers had the login information they were able to login to the targets Google account. Reportedly no sensitive information was gained from this attempt (Sanger 2011). Unfortunately there is no magical fix for this type of security issue. All Google could do is warn their users of this type of scheme and not to give out personal information. Conclusion Since 2006 Google has made Google Docs more easily accessible as well as increased the features and options available on the system. The increased flexibility and amount of users has caused media outlets such as CNN Money to ask if Google Docs will kill off Microsoft Office. This bold question is still open to debate, and the security will always remain an issue with any shared system but with a price tag of zero and the ability to have access to your work no matter what your location or device may be, while still having the options that Microsoft office products have offered in the past is worth the risk to a lot of professionals. Reference Our history in-depth. (n.d.). Google. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.google.com/about/company/history/ Covert, A. (2013, November 13). Will Google Docs kill off Microsoft Office? CNNMoney. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/13/technology/enterprise/microsoft-office-google-docs/ Google software bug shared private online documents. (2009, March 10).'' Science X Network''. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://phys.org/news155889352.html Sanger, D., & Kopytoff, V. (2011, June 3). Hacking of White House Gmail Affected Diverse Departments. The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/technology/04hack.html?_r=1& Overview of Google Docs. (n.d.). ''- Docs editors Help''. Retrieved June 2, 2014, from https://support.google.com/docs/answer/143206?hl=en&ref_topic=21008